We have a winner!

And on the very first hand after the break, we immediately had our decision. When Patrik made it 50K to go from the small blind / button, Gunnar called the raise. When the flop came 874, Gunnar checked, Patrik bet 60K, and then Gunnar check-raised all-in with a Q9 to take the pot away from his opponent. But Patrik had flopped gold with an 84 for two pair - and that held up.

All in all, what a fantastic event this has been. A great venue, the best structures we have seen so far in the EPT, and in the end a truly excellent winner. Patrik Antonius knew from the very start that Abel was the one he should try and bust out. This is exactly what he did, and from there it was a rather easy path to victory.

2. Gunnar Osterbrod EUR 120,384

1. Patrik Antonius EUR 218,880

Anyway, that's about it from me for this event - but please note that the Baden coverage is not yet over. In the next couple of days, the biggest annual stud event will be hosted here in this same casino - and I will cover that for you too. So, please log in to check out the developments in this event too. In this "PokerEM" there will be three days of qualifying, meaning that out of the initial field of 250-300 runners the best 24 qualify for the final every day. People can buy in for all three days, and do rebuys and add-ons, all to maximize their chances of reaching this final. The first qualifying day has been concluded yesterday, and right now the second qualifying day is taking place. Once the third qualifying day is over, I will post a full list of names here in my blog, and in two days time I will then provide you all with a full reports of the final 72. Please note that this is a really big event, as just yesterday had a prize pool of almost 300,000 Euros - and in the next two days we expect that about 150,000 to 200,000 per day will be added to that. And just a quick peek among the tables made me see that in addition to the many Austrians (who love stud) there are also quite a few real poker stars participating. All in all, you can check things out here, and when I've got any new information for you, it can be found as a new and separate entry.

From Baden, I say: Best of luck to you - see you all soon!

Patrick has just increased his lead, value-betting 100K on the river TTK33 with a KJ. He got a call by Gunnar's K8, and won because of his kicker. And a few minutes later, he again value-bet on the river (with second pair this time), got called, and won again. At the break, Gunnar was down to 390,000, while Patrick had the remainder - about 1.4 million. Blinds now: 8,000-16,000 with no ante.

A monster pot! Again, a big battle between Abel and Patrik. On the button, Abel raised to 30K. Out of the big blind, Patrik raised to 100,000, and then Abel moved all-in for 560,000. Patrik called instantly, and was dominating the Dutchman: AK vs. AQ. The best hand held up, gaining Patrik almost 1.2 million, and Abel was down to just 42K. He had doubled that up once with Q 4 against an A8, but was out not much later, all-in with A2 against Patrik's 44. The Fin now has a bit more than a 2-to-1 chip lead over his opponent, the young Norwegian, and high-stakes cash player, Gunnar Osterbrod.

3. Abel Meijberg EUR 61,560

With the blinds still at 5K-10K and a 1K ante, Gunnar has just won three pots in a row - and now is second in chips. On one hand, he made his favorite play of reraising a button raise out of the small blind - and again, it worked.

And as I am writing this, he has just won a big pot against Abel. On a flop J T 6 , the Dutchman made a 30K semi-bluff, and the turn J looked like a great card to continue that semi-bluff. Gunnar called him with a six though, and when a blank came on the river Abel wisely decided to give up.

But he was not bothered by this loss at all, because just a few moments later, he snapped off an 80K river bluff against the strong Fin Patrik. So, chips are now all fairly equal, none of the players having less than 500K.

We are down to three! In the exact hand match-up as before (JJ vs. AK) it was this time the AK that prevailed. Big slick for Gunnar, JJ for Christian for about 180,000 total, and the flop AKx was excellent for the strong Norwegian. A queen on the turn gave Christian a few more outs, but another king on the river. Down to three, with Gunnar and Patrik having about 400,000 each, with the remainder for Abel - almost 1 cool million.

4. Christian Grundtvig EUR 47,880

But then, things turned sour for Abel after all! In yet another coin flip, he had AJ against Patrik's TT, and again theey had raised and reraised each other - as they had done so many times before. 365K each into the middle - and for the first time this event, Abel lost one of his coin flips. Patrik is back at almost 800,000, and has the Dutchman covered now.

Chip counts:

• Abel 563K
• Patrik 769K
• Gunnar 478K

A massive pot for Abel! Up against the snowboarder Ingemar Backman, all the money went in before the flop - 326,000 each. JJ for Abel, AK suited for Ingemar. A coin flip, yes that was clear - and a coin flip for almost half of the total chips in play! One could feel the tension, and when three small cards flopped, things looked good for the Dutchman. Good, yes, but he was not there yet. And then... two more cards... The first one safe... and the second too! Abel now has well over half of the total chips in play, and is the favorite to win here today.

But he still has to face at least one very dangerous opponent: Patrik Antonius. Patrik is the only one who is not afraid to play back at the aggressive Dutchman. He has just come over the top of Abel's 74K reraise, to once again make him lay down his hand.

5. Ingemar Backman EUR 41,040

We are down to five. Abel Meijberg has just won the biggest pot of the night, and now has a 608K stack! He had AA, and as it turned out, he was up against Peter Muhlbeck's KQ. On a flop K84 with two diamonds, Abel bet and got called. On the turn 6, Abel then bet 100K, and after long deliberation, the Austrian then decided to move in for about 140K. The Dutchman's aces held up, making him the chipleader by far.

6. Peter Muhlbeck EUR 34,200

We will have a long break now, and the chip raise will also be done - so I expect play to resume in about one hour. The blinds will then move up to 5K-10K, with a 1K ante. Chip counts:

• Abel 608,000

• Gunnar 471,500 (plays as high as £150-300 on a few sites; quite high I would say)
• Ingemar 381,000
• Patrik 212,000 (who has just bought a house in Vegas, 15 minutes from the Strip. I have just heard that he actually came in 5 hours late for this tournament, because he had missed his flight! So, when the started playing, he had already been anted down to 6K!)
• Christian 133,500

Down to 6! On a flop 542 with two hearts, Torstein had an overpair + straight draw with his 66, but Gunnar had a great flop too with the T 6 . A third heart on the river, and Torstein was out - while Gunnar now has Abel covered.

7. Torstein Iversen EUR 27,360

The biggest pot so far! In what seemed to be a normal pot, Patrik had limped on the button and Peter had limped in the small blind. Flop T32 rainbow. Peter bet out 15K, big blind Ingemar called, and then Patrik raised to 60K. Peter immediately reraised all-in to 110K with a QQ that he had slowplayed before the flop, and he won against Patrik's JT. Peter now has 250K, while the once very strong Patrik is down to 145K.

And Abel has just won an important pot against Christian, when he raised the Dane successfully. Abel now is the chipleader with 350K. But not far behind is Gunnar, who has just doubled up to about 260K with AK versus Christian's TT, all the money in before the flop.

Abel has just won a pot against his nemesis Patrik, reraising from 23K to 80K out of the small blind to win a pot uncontested. In the past few days, this "reraise from the small blind" has been a popular move amongst the youngsters. And as I am writing this, Gunnar has done exactly that: reraise from the small blind to 80K. This time, he got called on the flop, but managed to win the pot by moving in after. Chip counts now: Abel 320K, Gunnar 260K, Patrik 260, Torstein 210K, Peter 110K, Ingemar 330K. Christian has just moved up to 260K after successfully check-raising Gunnar's 50K turn bet, meaning the Norwegian is now down to 190K or so.

The strong Patrik won yet another pot, this time after the flop TTJ when he successfully raised Christian's 14,000 bet. But then he lost one rather big one to Ingemar, who called large bets before and on the flop, and then took the pot away from the Fin on the turn. And right after that, Patrik was involved in yet another one, when he called Gunnar's 35K turn bet, and the young Norwegian then failed to go for the bluff on the river with his mere six high. (Patrik now won with second pair.) As expected, it is Patrik and Abel who are doing the betting and raising so far, while all others are merely reacting.

Blinds now 4,000-8,000 with a 500 ante.

Edgar Skjevold, the 2004 World Champion of Online Poker, is out! When Patrik raised from the button, Edgar made the normal play to move in from the big blind with an AQ. But the Fin had a real hand, JJ, called him, and had his jacks hold up. And as I am writing this, Torstein has made an excellent river call against Peter despite a very scary board, to win the pot against the dangerous Austrian.

Two things that do not have much to do with actual play, but that may still be worth noting. Christian Grundtvig seems to be quite nervous, as he is shaking quite a bit from time to time. And Abel has just missed two hands because he was in desperate need for a bathroom break, but just as Leslie Nielsen in the famous Naked Gun series, he forgot to take off his microphone! (I will leave the rest up to your imagination.)

8. Edgar Skjevold EUR 20,520

Not much action in the beginning. Edgar has won a pot against Ingemar, Abel has picked up two small pots, and we have seen the usual pattern of Abel raising and Patrick coming over the top - to make the Dutchman lay down his hand.

Ingemar has just limp / reraised from under the gun. When three more players limped, big blind Peter raised it 25K more, and the snowboarder instatly reraised all-in. An action that screamed "I have aces" - and indeed he had them. He is very tight, and everybody indeed gave him credit for a big hand.

Abel has just reraised Christian's button raise to win the pot there and then. Bets and raises get lots of respect so far.

It is just one hour until the final of the EPT Baden. The stage is being set now and things are not ready yet, so we may have a little delay. But I still expect this final to start no later than 1 p.m.

A little background info on the players:

• Ingemar Backman. Is said to be a professional snowboarder. Yesterday was the first time I actually saw him play poker, but he seemed to be holding his own very well.
• Gunnar Osterbrod. Young Norwegian, who is actually a very good cash game player who just recently switched to tournaments. His fellow countrymen speak very highly of him.
• Patrik Antonius. One of the best young players in Europe. This Finnish young man also reached the final in Barcelona and even though many people claimed that we was quite unlucky not to win there, to tell you the truth I thought his play was a bit too predictable. But here in Baden, I have seen him play some superb poker: good and aggressive, but also smooth and in a great "rhythm" if you will.
• Peter Muhlbeck. Vienna-based, and father of two young children. Peter & I have played in many cash games together while I still lived in Vienna myself. (Peter: "Yeah, but you probably played less hands in an entire month than I did in just one session.") Aggressive, but also very relaxed, and never bothered by the outcome of a hand, or intimidated by the stakes that he plays for.
• Abel Meijberg. My fellow Dutchman, a student Technical Engineering, and very successful at the $215 sit'n'go tournaments. (He plays about 500 every month, 8 simultaneously.) Not afraid to push marginal hands, but also capable of making good laydowns. When he had just started playing, I was actually the first 'big' player that he interviewed for the Dutch Pokerinfo site - now, it seems only normal that after this event I will return the favor.

Play has started now, with 3,000-6,000 blinds with a 500 ante.

And we are down to eight! Abel has continued his good run, winning yet another important pot. With AK against Morten Jensen's 88, he spiked a king to bust out the Dane - and to actually be the chipleader tomorrow.

Chip counts televised final:

• Seat 1: Gunnar Osterbrod 184,300
• Seat 2: Patrik Antonius 308,400

• Seat 3: Torstein Iversen 179,500
• Seat 4: Edgar Skjevold 90,400
• Seat 5: Peter Muhlbeck 247,700
• Seat 6: Ingemar Backman 294,500
• Seat 7: Christian Grundtvig 180,000
• Seat 8: Abel Meijberg 315,000

9. Morten Jensen EUR 13,680

That's about it from me for today. Tomorrow afternoon we will have an exciting final table, dominated by the Scandinavians, but with a young Dutchman in the lead, and a dangerous and aggressive Austrian not that far behind. From Baden, I say: Take care - and see you all tomorrow.